COVID-19 has dramatically reset worker expectations. Prepandemic, most people just assumed being in an office was part of having a job. Now, however, those workers have seen how well working from home works—especially for them—and many of them say they’ll quit rather than go back.
Still, some CEOs, like Apple’s Tim Cook and JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, are taking a hard line and insisting that their employees return to the office. The usual reason given for such stands is the idea of serendipitous meetings at the water cooler that result in impromptu innovation. You hear the same argument in support of open offices: people need to be close so that a magical collaboration can occur.
The problem is that it’s almost certainly not true. Researchers who study the question say that they can find no evidence of this phenomenon and that it’s more of a fairy tale than reality. There is, to the contrary, evidence that all that close proximity actually results in less collaboration and innovation. The reason for that will be obvious to anyone who’s had to suffer in an open office: when you hear constant chattering and nattering, you put on your headphones and disengage with those around you. There are other problems as well. You can read about them at the above link.
Here’s another article making the same point. As usual with received wisdom, when you take a closer look, cracks start to appear. Both of the articles acknowledge that face-to-face conversations can be useful but that meeting with your colleagues every 3 months or so may be better than everyday.